bad calls

September 17, 2008

Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson said Wednesday the replay official in the Wisconsin-Fresno State game made a mistake when he overturned a fumble call during the third quarter.

Wisconsin appeared to be in position to get another score when the Badgers' DeAndre Levy recovered a fumble by Devon Wylie at the Fresno State 26 in the third quarter with Badgers leading 10-0. But the call was overturned on a replay review, ruled an incomplete pass, and the Bulldogs went on to score on that drive. Wisconsin won the game 13-10.

“The WAC holds officials accountable for their performance,” Benson said. “And when errors are made, especially those that may have an impact on the outcome of a game, it is necessary to hold an official accountable for the mistake.”

-- The Associated Press

NCAA rules require there be indisputable video evidence in order to overturn a call made by an official on the field. Benson added, “After reviewing video of the play with Jim Blackwood, WAC supervisor of football officials, we concluded there was not indisputable evidence. Thus, per NCAA rules the play should not have been overturned.”

August 05, 2008

on my way to norman today to begin the august routine. with high school and college teams hitting the practice field this month, i've had a moment of remember when (do-doot-do-do) of those dogs days of augusts more than 45 years ago.

how did we survive?

our high school football practice field back in east texas was situated in a hollow, surrounded by pine and other native trees. picturesque, but stifling. in case you've never been there this time of year, it's humid. really humid. and unless a norther was blowing in--and that didn't come until much later in the season--let's just say we didnt get much of a breeze.

of course we started our practice regimine in those days with a couple of salt tablets dished out at the equipment cage by one of the assistant managers. he also gave us a couple after practice. that foolish philosphy--which in essence sucked all the moisture to the stomach to deal with all the salt floating around rather than replace lost minerals (see gatoraide)--was amazingly not discontinued until the '90s. that also was back in the day when only sissies drank water. my savior was a close friendship with a guy who later became head manager who had acess to the only ice-water bucket on the field. kenny would frequently carry around a soaked white towel he used to swathe off someone whose face approached the shade of the predominant school color--red. but a few priviledged pals frequently could sneak behind kenny (fortunately he was a former offensive lineman) and grab a quick & refreshing, moisture-sucking bite of a 'clean spot' on the dripping towel--thus gaining a small amount of ground against the cottonmouth and no-telling what kind of germs, none of which killed us, either.

doctors & trainers today marvel at that line of thinking and it's still a wonder that no one really ever suffered flat-out, fall-down, pass-out heat exhaustion that i recall. ive heard the explanation that acclimation to the heat was a factor. we didnt live in artificially-controlled atmosphere from birth. i was 14 before i lived in a house with real air conditioning, a junior in high school before we had a car with ac. i can still remember the thrill of a florida -new orleans vacation in late july as kids, tooling along in the back of a '57 chevy station wagon--dazed in a heat-induced stupor reminiscent of those early, mid-50s afternoon naps under a furnace of a breeze sucked in by the attic fan through a south window. sooner or later, you and the sheets got so wet from your sweat that the body's natural cooling system kicked in--as long as you did not die before that happened and absolutely did not change position from flat on your back.

so hey all you young warriors. enjoy practice. drink plenty of gatoraide. pour plenty of cool water over your heads during your frequent breaks in the shade.

November 18, 2007

The big news in the Big 12 this week was Texas Tech Mike Leach being fined a record $10,000 for criticizing the officiating in last week's loss at Texas. One of Leach's comments criticized instant replay.

With the Red Raiders leading 34-20, they got the benefit on a replay call when Oklahoma came close to scoring a touchdown on a fourth-down pass into the end zone. The replay was inconclusive but the review was handled in record time.

November 16, 2007

In the last week or so, officiating has become a huge issue and not just in the Big 12.

The Big Ten crew at last week's Illinois-Ohio State blew a call on a fumble that would have negated the Illini's first TD. The Pac-10 crew and the replay booth blew a call on the Washington-Oregon State game.

Late in Thursday night's Oregon-Arizona game, the crew missed an obvious face mask call that would have given the Wildcats 15 yards. The Pac-10 crew in the game appeared befuddled on a number of instant replay several calls _ including overruling a fumble by Airzona with 4:33 remaining.

I'll just say it now _ the Pac-10's football officiating is the worst in the Bowl Championship Series conferences.

November 12, 2007

Texas Tech’s Mike Leach wasn’t the only coach who was upset with officiating decisions Saturday.

Colorado, which blew a 21-point lead early in the second half and lost at Iowa State, 31-28, thought it had twice made game-tying field goals. Kicker Kevin Eberhart (whose game-winner on Sept. 29 might keep Oklahoma from playing for the national championship), made a 50-yarder as time was running out. The officials, though, penalized the Buffaloes for delay of game because the ball was snapped before the officials had declared it ready for play. Eberhart then made a 55-yarder. But after a brief meeting, the officials disallowed the kick. They ruled that Colorado had taken too much time to snap the ball and that time had expired.

Rice kicked a game-winning 31-yard field goal on the game’s final play to beat SMU, 43-42. SMU coach Phil Bennett believed the clock at Ford Stadium kept running after the Owls’ final play from scrimmage before the kick. The clock was stopped with one second remaining.

Oklahoma State fans weren’t happy with the officiating in the Cowboys’ loss to Kansas. In particular, the OSU faithful believed that the Jayhawks interfered with Cowboys receivers several times that weren’t called. And a personal foul penalty (called for a blow to the face of a KU offensive lineman) helped move along a key Kansas scoring drive.